The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 88: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

CHAPTER VIII THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE HOME OFFICE Tuus did the Prince of Wales congratulate himself upon the certainty of irretrievable ruin overtaking the man who, whatever fault he might have committed and whatever treachery he might have perpetrated in purloining papers from the heir apparent’s desk, had nevertheless served his Royal Highness with such fidelity and zeal on innumerable occasions as to deserve at least some degree of leniency at his hands. But while the prince was musing in that heartless style, an important investigation had already commenced at the Home Office. In a lofty, spacious, and handsomely furnished apart- ment, three gentlemen were seated at a table. A clerk was employed in taking down the depositions at a desk near one of the windows; and midway between the table and the desk Meagles and Melmoth were standing. Two of the con- stables guarded the door, and Mr. Bax, the senior function- ary, was under examination. Of the three gentlemen at the table the one who occupied _ the chair at the head was the under-secretary of state for the Home Department, his superior in that office being engaged elsewhere at a Cabinet Council. On the right hand sat the attorney-general, and on the left the chief magistrate of Bow Street. The names and addresses of Timothy Meagles and James Melmoth had been duly taken down; and Mr. Bax was now giving his evidence, or rather, his version of the affair in- volving the charge against the prisoners. ‘“‘ Please, gentlemen,” said the constable, ‘‘ me and my two partners was walking along Pall Mall West quite pro- 66